House of Assembly Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2) 52 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time BHP Billiton BHP BILLITON Mr MARSHALL House of Assembly Norwood Leader of the Opposition BHP BILLITON Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (14:31): My question is to the Premier. Has the government held any discussions with BHP management regarding the potential for more than 100 job losses within their South Australian operations? The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL House of Assembly Cheltenham Premier Minister for State Development Minister for the Public Sector Minister for the Arts BHP BILLITON The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:31): We were, of course, disappointed to learn today of the suggestion that a number of jobs would be lost at BHP, and I understand the reasoning behind this is for the company to find efficiencies in their operation on the back of sustained low commodity prices and the high Australian dollar. I also understand this is part of a company-wide efficiency, affecting the whole of their operations across the world, and this is not confined to BHP. It is, of course, occurring across the whole of the mining industry, with somewhere between 8,000-odd jobs being cut from Queensland and New South Wales in their coal industry. We were advised that the company was intending to make some announcements today. I am yet to see the precise form of those announcements, although we have been given in general terms some advance notice that this was going to happen today. I am looking forward to a full briefing after the conclusion of question time.